40) DmC: Devil May Cry

Capcom

Taking on a theme of crushing and destruction, this reboot had impeccably bizarre and otherworldly art direction. Floating debris, lurid creatures, and constant riffing on themes, it was both disturbing and beautiful.

39) Metal Gear Solid 3

Konami

Games at the end of a console life cycle tend to have the best graphics, and the Metal Gear series is no exception. Konami and Kojima got some of the best graphics out of the PS2 that we’d ever seen.

Page 2

38) Zone of the Enders

Konami

Zone of the Enders pulled off a rare feat in that it felt like an animated episode you were controlling, not a bunch of polygons that looked vaguely cartoony. The robot design played to the strengths of the format, as well, and it looked good even before it got “remastered” for the PS3

37) BioShock Infinite

Take Two Interactive

Painstaking historical research went into this game, and it shows. Imagining a city floating in the skies that manifests both how America saw itself, and the troubling dark side of American exceptionalism, was no easy feat, but this game evokes a time that never was and an attitude that was all too real at the same time.

Page 3

36) Secret of Mana

Square Enix

Probably one of the most beautiful JRPGs of the SNES era, and a game that holds up surprisingly well even today, visually. There are still indie games being released that take design cues from this game.

35) Halo

Microsoft

A big, bold, loud version of how we saw the future at the turn of the century, yeah, Halo might be the gaming equivalent of van art. But it’s bold, beautiful, gorgeous van art.

Page 4

34) Ratchet & Clank

Sony

Insomniac created a Disney-esque version of cyberpunk with Ratchet & Clank. It’s a fun, colorful game about using terrifying weapons on your enemies: Disney’s Death Wish.

33) Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge

Lucasfilm

Lucasfilm’s tendency towards careful design paid off with its adventure games, and nowhere is that more true than with this sequel. Even now, its sprite graphics have a timeless feel.

Page 5

32) Earthworm Jim

Shiny

Many games tried to be a cartoon in the 16-bit era, but only a handful truly succeeded. One of those was Shiny’s Earthworm Jim, a game that stands out not least for making the wacky concepts so common in kid’s shows at the time both fun to play and beautiful to look at. Don’t anger Peter Puppy!

31) Metroid Prime

Nintendo

One of the GameCube’s best games, on more than a few levels, and a marker of an achievement, in that Samus went successfully 3D where so many franchises failed.

BioShock Infinite is too new to really judge it’s longevity. It will probably age well, which is why it’s on the list, but can’t know for sure, so it’s not in the very upper echelons. You’re not going to see a lot of games from the last year or so at the top of the list.

Zone of Enders was the first PS2 game I ever played. I remember it came out right around the same time as Gundam Wing did on Toonami (which I was really into) and I was enraptured by how fast some of the fights were in the game and how close the game was in comparison to some of the battles on the show.

Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest VIII, Ni No Kuni, Journey, Wind Waker, Okami…so many to choose from. But hands down (for me anyway) I’d have to go with Valkyria Chronicles. So much detail, and the graphics engine is truly beautiful and will hold up forever. FOREVER!